Woman Stranded on River Rescued By Reserve Deputy

A Franklin County reserve deputy rescued a woman who was stranded on a gravel bar on the Meramec River Saturday night.

The sheriff’s office received a report about 9 p.m. that the woman had been floating alone on the river and was missing. Deputies later learned that the 53-year-old woman had fallen asleep on a flotation device and had stopped on the gravel bar because she was unsure of her location.

Sullivan firefighters were called in to search the river, but it was Reserve Deputy Tom Cline in his two-seat helicopter who spotted the woman on the gravel bar west of Meramec State Park about 9:30 p.m., the sheriff’s office reported.

The gravel bar is located a short distance upstream from the Highway 185 bridge over the Meramec.

The deputy flew her back to the park and she was taken to her residence by another deputy, according to the report.